


The Promise

by LucilleFuhrArt



Series: Hannigram One Shots [3]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: M/M, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 18:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16101101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucilleFuhrArt/pseuds/LucilleFuhrArt
Summary: Will’s fever is triggering terrible nightmares, and Hannibal is the only one who know how to make the demons go away.





	The Promise

**Author's Note:**

> Note for this entire series of works, I wrote these about 3 years ago. I didn’t even realize I’ve been writing that long tbh. I’m transferring them here from Wattpad (where I’m under a different username) because I know a lot more Fannibals are here. I’m not writing them anymore, so the last one I transfer will likely be my last, unless a miracle happens and i have the motivation to write again.   
> Enjoy!

Will sucked in a panicked breath, and his eyes shot open. He pushed himself up and looked around in fear. Covered in a layer of cold sweat, his heart was racing. It was another nightmare, he thought, realizing that he was still in his and Hannibal's bed, just as he had been when he'd fallen asleep. 

Lying back down to catch his breath, he reached out to Hannibal, but there was no one there. Will could feel the heat where he would have been lying, but there was no body to go with it. He must've just gotten out of bed, Will told himself, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was terribly wrong. 

He tried closing his eyes and focusing on falling back asleep, but he was restless, and wanted to know where Hannibal was. Pushing himself back up, he looked over at the clock on his bedside table. He had to blink away the blurriness in his eyes before he could make out the small red numbers. It was 12:30am. He'd only been asleep for an hour. But where is Hannibal? Will was absolutely certain that the older man had been there when he'd fallen asleep. 

The room around Will was so silent that all he could hear was the sound of his own breath, but at the same time the shadows seemed to deafen him as they whispered their secrets into the darkness. Although he could not see them, Will knew they were there, and he knew they were talking about him. 

He wanted to get up, to go find Hannibal, but he was afraid that the darkness would swallow him whole. Slowly, Will moved his feet so they were hanging over the edge of the bed, but dared not put them on the ground. He sat like that for a minute, before he decided that finding Hannibal was more important than whatever might be lurking in the dark. 

When Will placed his feet on the hardwood floor, they didn't make a sound. It was only when he stood that the floorboards began to creak. The noise they made were like deafening screams, and Will's heart sped up. It would surely attract the demons to come devour him. 

Maybe if he walked calmly, maybe if he was light enough, they wouldn't notice him.

Slowly, he made his way over to the door. His heart was pounding in his chest and echoed all throughout the room, as if someone were beating drums somewhere deep inside Will's chest. He could feel them vibrating throughout his entire body, and was certain that the demons must've noticed him by now. He began to tremble in fear and tears threatened to spill down his cheeks.

He wanted to give in to the demons, and let them claim him, but the thought of finding Hannibal kept him going. Hannibal will know what to do. Hannibal will save me.

It was difficult for him to see in the dark, but he'd memorized the room, having walked it so many times, and he knew when to reach out for the doorknob. His arm felt vulnerable being so far away from his body, but when he found the knob, he gripped it tightly, using it as a source of stability. 

It was only when he grabbed the perfectly rounded piece of metal and heard it rattling against the wooded door did he realize how badly his body was shaking. He brought his other hand up to his face, and covered his nose and mouth to muffle the sound of his breathing. That's when he felt the hot tears streaming down his face, which he hadn't realized he'd been crying. As slowly and gently as possible, he twisted the knob and opened the door. 

It cried as he pulled it open, begging him to stop, to not let them out. But he couldn't. He couldn't stay in here with them.

When Will was out of his room, he closed the door behind him. As soon as he was out, he jumped away, hoping that he'd escaped the demons. But once a monster had your scent, it could track you, no matter how well you covered yourself.

At first, everything was fine. He could hear Hannibal downstairs in the kitchen. The familiar clinking of cooking utensils against each other, and the sound of the fridge door opening and closing echoed from the kitchen calmed him. 

But Will felt the demons escaping the room by the crack underneath and around the sides of the doors. He could feel them as they crawled onto his body, cold and sharp. Like needles pressing into his skin and making him bleed. They paralyzed him, and all Will could do was stand frozen in his place. It took all his effort to try and escape them. 

His muscles became sore in his attempts to free himself from their grasp, and he nearly fell face first into the ground when they suddenly let him go. Will hadn't noticed that he'd been holding his breath until he was gasping for it, jerking around to see if they were behind him. But they'd disappeared. 

Will stood in his place, waiting for them to return, for them to jump out at him. But they didn't make a sound.

Turning his back to them, Will made his way downstairs, and that's when he heard them moving behind his back. Whispering to each other like the wind in the trees. 

~*~*~*~*~

Hannibal was in the kitchen preparing soup for Will, who had had a fever for nearly 3 days.

It started when Jack had called the two of them in to look at a crime scene. The victim had been a young woman in her early twenties, and Hannibal had found the crime hard for even him to stomach, but of course he hadn't let Jack or Will see his distaste. But despite the brutality of the murder, Will had insisted on his everyday routine, and they'd left him alone in the room with the body. Neither of the two were sure what had happened while he was in there, all they knew was that it had been a half an hour, 25 minutes longer than his usual, and they had been too worried to wait much longer. Hannibal had knocked lightly on the door, then opened it gradually. Will had been on his hands and knees in the blood, shivering, and gasping for breath. 

Ever since then he'd been terribly sick, and Hannibal hated to admit that he thoroughly enjoyed taking care of the younger man in his time of weakness. 

Usually Hannibal wouldn't be doing this kind of thing so late, but since Will's fever hit, his nightmares had only been getting worse. Therefore Hannibal was up all night comforting the other man, and woke up late every morning. Tonight, so far, had been a good night. But Hannibal's sleep schedule was so thrown off at this point that, even when he'd gone to bed with Will an hour ago, he was unable to fall asleep. 

Hannibal had been so wrapped up in the cooking process that he hadn't noticed Will's delicate footsteps coming from the floor above him. It was only when he heard the sound of barefoot on hardwood floor approaching the kitchen that Hannibal realized the younger man must've just woken up from another nightmare. He didn't look up from his work, but he noticed that Will was walking slowly and carefully, like he usually did when he was sleepwalking. 

"Hello, Will," Hannibal said once he sensed that the younger man had entered the kitchen. 

"Hannibal," Will's voice quivered in his throat. Hannibal's head shot up in concern to find that the younger man's face was streaked with tears, and his eyes were swollen and red from crying. 

Hannibal tilted his head in confusion. This wasn't any kind of sleepwalking he'd seen before. Usually, Will's eyes were glossed over as if he were seeing the world from behind fogged glass, and he stood stiff without any movement. Tonight he seemed very much awake.

"Will?"

The younger man didn't reply, just stared in horror at something behind Hannibal. He turned to see what was terrifying him so, but saw nothing but the counters and a shadow in the corner.

"What do you see, Will?" Hannibal asked, turning back to the trembling man before him.

"They're here."

"Who?"

"Th-they're gunna kill us."

"Will-"

"Please save me," Will begged, and more tears began to fall silently down his cheeks. 

"Will, you need to focus on me, there's no one here," Hannibal said as calmly as he could, turning off the heat on the stove to prevent any damage.

~*~*~*~*~

The shadow behind Hannibal stood menacingly over him, threatening to dig its claws into his skin and drag him away. But Will wouldn't let it take him. If Hannibal would just see them, then he could scare them away. As soon as he took off his person suit, and showed them his real face, they wouldn't dare touch him. 

Will could already feel them bushing up against his back, and the bare skin on his legs. They'd followed closely behind him all the way from the room, and Will suddenly got the sickening feeling that he'd led them straight to Hannibal. 

"Will, you need to focus on me, there's no one here," Hannibal told him.

Maybe it was his empathy that granted Will the power to see them where Hannibal could not. He could hear them laughing at him, joking about his attempts to escape. They must've known that Hannibal couldn't identify them, and they were making fun of Will for trying to help him.

"They want you, Hannibal," Will said, barely a whisper. 

Hannibal moved away from the stove and walked cautiously towards Will. When he met the younger man on the other side of the counter, Hannibal put his hands on hiss shoulders and leaned forward slightly so that he was at Will's eye level.

"Will, you're sleepwalking."

Will shook his head, "No. No, there's something here. They don't want you to see them. They're going to kill us, Hannibal, please," Rather than being loud or upset, Will's voice was quiet in desperation, his eyes pleading exhaustedly with the other man. 

~*~*~*~*~

"Tell me, Will, where are they?" Hannibal asked, hoping that maybe if he could show him that there was no danger, then maybe he would calm down.

Will turned around slowly. Reaching behind him, he took ahold of Hannibal's hand, and backed up until the older man's solid chest was pressed against his back. Hannibal watched Will's eyes as he slid his free hand around the other's waist. He followed his gaze and was led to the door where he'd entered the kitchen. The door was wide open, and all that could be seen from where the two of them were standing was darkness. Hannibal wondered if that might be precisely what he was afraid of. 

Hannibal brought his other arm, his fingers still intertwined with Will's, and wrapped it tightly around the younger man's torso, resting his head on his shoulder. But Will was still shaking. Hannibal could smell the fever on him stronger than before, and tried to think of a way to stop him hallucinating.

"What do you see?" He asked.

"I can't see anything. But I know they're there," Will whispered.

"What makes you think that?"

"I don't think, I-I know."

"Well then what makes you know?"

"I can feel it."

"Will," Hannibal started, trying to think of a way to say it that wouldn't upset him any further, "There's nothing there."

"No," Will wriggled free of Hannibal's grasp and turned to him angrily. "I'm trying to save you!"

"Will, you need to calm down. Close your eyes, you're hallucinating because of your fever. You're very, very sick," Hannibal said, keeping his voice calm but stern. 

"I'm not," Will whimpered.

"Close your eyes, Will."

"They'll come for me."

"No they won't. I won't let them. When have I ever let you down, Will?" Hannibal said, slowly approaching him. The younger man flinched away at first, but visibly relaxed when Hannibal cupped Will's face in his hand and wiped away the wetness on his cheeks with his thumb.

"Just focus on the sound of my voice," Hannibal said, and Will's eyes fluttered closed, "You are safe with me at home. These demons aren't going to hurt you," As soon as Hannibal mentioned the demons, he felt Will tense up, "Shhhh," Hannibal pulled Will close, so he was pressed to the older man's chest, then wrapped his arms around him. Will clung onto the sides of Hannibal's red sweater as if he let go he might float away. Quickly, Hannibal thought of something to say to Will that would not remind him of the "demons" he claimed to feel, "Can you hear my heart, Will?"

Will nodded against Hannibal's chest. 

"Good. That beating that you're hearing right now, that's it trying to speak to you. Can you hear what it's saying?"

"No."

"It's making a promise. It's going to repeat that promise over and over forever."

"What's the promise?" 

"It's promising to keep you safe. As long as it's still beating, you will always be protected by it."

Will didn't say a word.

"Every time you hear it beating, Will, you will be reminded of that promise," 

Hannibal slowly slid his arms down Will's back until he was no longer holding the man, but his hands rested on top of the other's, which were still clinging to his sweater. Will lifted his head from Hannibal's chest, and looked him in the eye. The younger man was so close that Hannibal could feel his breath on his mouth and chin. He still was not completely relaxed, but the trembling had ceased, and Hannibal could tell that those mere words had helped significantly.

The speech might have been something Hannibal had come up with on the spot, but the promise was real. Whether Will knew it or not, it was a promise that Hannibal had made to himself. It hadn't been a decision, he didn't wake one morning and determined this for himself. It was something he'd learned over the years. Something that Will had taught him just by being himself. So long as Hannibal Lecter's heart was beating, no one would harm Will Graham, himself included. 

"Let's get you to bed," Hannibal said, removing Will's hands from his shirt.

~*~*~*~*~

Hannibal led Will up to their bedroom, and the familiar whispers of the voices in the shadows seemed to shrink away as he followed closely behind the older man. When they got to the bedroom door, Hannibal stepped into the darkness without hesitation, but Will had to stop himself before going through the doorway. The darkness seemed much less intimidating when he knew that Hannibal was waiting inside for him. He took a deep breath, then walked into the room. 

By memory, Will found his way back to his side of the bed. The sheets were still slightly damp from his last nightmare, but he was too exhausted to do anything about it, and he collapsed onto the soft mattress. 

"Hannibal?" Will asked.

"Here," Hannibal's raspy voice came from his usual place on the bed, and he felt the older man's weight shift as he reached down to the bottom of the bed, and pulled the covers up over their bodies. 

Will moved himself over to Hannibal, and found him lying on his side with his head propped up on his right arm. The older man stroked his fingers up and down Will's side, from the top of his shoulder to the edge of his hip. But Will wanted to be closer to him.

"Lie down, please," Will asked, pushing at his solid chest. Hannibal obliged.

Will draped one arm over Hannibal's body, and moved himself so that his head was resting on the older man's chest. He wanted to hear it again. He wanted to hear the promise.

Hannibal ran him finger's through Will's curls as the younger man fell asleep to the sound of his beating heart.

**Author's Note:**

> I know I said I’d transfer them all tonight but I’m exhausted, so have a good night!!


End file.
